Family of missing Kupwara youth losing hope

Minister Abdul Haq Khan, the youth’s uncle, has reportedly spoken to Rajnath Singh; SSP says army has started an inquiry

Srinagar: Eleven days after Kupwara youth Manzoor Ahmad Khan, son of Gulam Qadir Khan of Dewar village, was detained by army’s 27 RR on August 31 along with another villager, Nasrullah Khan, his family is losing hope of seeing him again.
While Nasrullah Khan is battling for life at Srinagar’s SMHS hospital, so grievous were the injuries he sustained when the army interrogated him, Manzoor Khan is yet to be found by the police teams and the local villagers who are looking for him.
The family of Manzoor Khan said that they had some hope when the Kupwara police registered a case against the army and senior cabinet minister Abdul Haq Khan, who is Manzoor’s uncle, assured that he will find the boy. But when the army denied having Manzoor in their custody and the minister went back to Srinagar without offering any assurance, Manzoor’s family began to fear the worst.
Villagers of Dewar said that the army had changed the entries in the register they keep at the gate of their camp, to show that Manzoor was never detained by them. The villagers said that several witnesses saw the army detaining Manzoor and Nasrullah and noting their names in the register.
Gulam Qadir Khan, Manzoor’s father, said that he met the Kupwara Deputy Commissioner and the Senior Superintendent of Police and at least 13 people who saw Manzoor being detained by the army had recorded their statements before the SSP. He said the police are trying to persuade the army to give information about Manzoor but as the days are passing, the family is losing hope. Sources said that minister Abdul Haq Khan who is also the MLA from Lolab took up the matter with union home minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday, through Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. The home minister reportedly assured that he will talk to army officials. Locals said that the commander of army’s Kilo Force also visited the area and talked to the army officers at the 27 RR camp, but so far nothing has come out of it. Kupwara SSP Shamsher Hussain told Kashmir Reader on Sunday that a magisterial enquiry is going on in the case and police hope to find the missing youth. He said that the army has also started a court of inquiry into the incident.

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Launched in May 2012, Kashmir Reader is one of the leading English language newspapers of Jammu and Kashmir. It’s published daily from Srinagar by Helpline Group, which earned a name and fame in serious journalism